Chieftain and Warrior names will remain in West Hartford high schools, but without Native American mascots

WEST HARTFORD — The school board voted Tuesday to allow Conard and Hall high schools to continue using the Chieftain and Warrior team names, but eliminate all reference to Native Americans.

The vote came after a decades-long debate over the schools' use of the mascots, which had traditionally been depicted as Indian heads, flared up again this fall.

Controversy over the use of the names resurfaced after students led an anti-Semitic chant at a soccer game between the two schools, leading to a broader discussion about cultural sensitivity.

The issue has been widely discussed at board meetings and at a public forum held in February, with some arguing that the mascots are a deeply-held tradition to be protected.

Others said they felt the logos and related imagery, including sports pep clubs named the Reservation and the Tribe, are outdated and offensive symbols of institutionalized racism.

Board members Terry Schmitt and Bruce Putterman formed a subcommittee that devised three policy options for dealing with the mascot issue: keeping the status quo with additional education about Native Americans; eliminating the names and imagery entirely; and keeping the Chieftain and Warrior names but rebranding them as non-Native American symbols.

More than 50 people, including many parents and students, attended Tuesday's meeting to hear board members give their opinions on the various options, which were sharply divided along party lines.

Republicans Jay Sarzen and Mark Zydanowicz defended the use of the mascots, with Zydanowicz arguing that elimination "ignores the students, teachers and town residents' voices and sterilizes our Native American history."

Sarzen gave a lengthy speech in favor of keeping the mascots.

"Opponents may refer to this imagery as subtle racism, but that would be an opinion. Native Americans face many challenges, but racism as a result of high school nicknames and imagery is simply not one of them," Sarzen said.

But Democrats Tammy Exum, Mark Overmyer-Velazquez, Putterman and Schmitt said the Native American mascots have no place in town schools.

"I think in a multicultural community, in a nation that is slowly, over the last couple of years, awakening to the insidiousness of institutional racism, that cultural sensitivity has to trump tradition," Putterman said.

"It's just not acceptable," Schmitt said. "We stole the identity of these people and we didn't even bother to ask ... Just because decades later we ask permission doesn't make it right. It's still wrong. The decision was then, and still now, is based on a complete lack of respect. So, all the imagery and extra stuff has to go."

"Native Americans are not mascots. It is time for us to find other ways to celebrate and represent our schools, our athletes and all our students," said Overmyer-Velazquez.

Exum said that while some Native Americans may not be offended by the mascots, those individuals would not be negatively affected if they were discontinued.

"I choose the option that allows us not to be offensive," Exum said.

Ultimately, board members voted unanimously to compromise and allow the team names to remain, without any reference to Native American culture.

A final vote on the issue is scheduled for a special meeting on March 25, and Overmyer-Velazquez said that school principals will lead the effort to modify their logos and mascots by June 15.